


Ever Since New York

by alittlebitofurheart



Series: After Yale, Maybe? [2]
Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: F/M, Fanfiction, gilmore girls after yale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26538031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlebitofurheart/pseuds/alittlebitofurheart
Summary: This is a continuation of my work "Where Were You in the Morning"Logan didn't walk away. But to what extent has he stayed in Rory's life?(inspired by "Ever Since New York" -Harry Styles)part 2/2**Please note that I do not own the rights to any of the Gilmore Girls' characters or have any affiliation.
Relationships: Rory Gilmore & Logan Huntzberger, Rory Gilmore/Logan Huntzberger
Series: After Yale, Maybe? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929727
Comments: 5
Kudos: 30





	Ever Since New York

"So, when do you think you'll be back in New York?"  
"Funny, I was calling to ask you the same thing."  
"Ace I can jump on a plane today if I wanted to. You however, are a trailblazing reporter."  
"No blazing going on here"  
"What, Obama's not keeping you busy enough? Surely a month before the election you haven't got the time to talk to mere mortals like myself"  
"I've got a few minutes to spare. Only for you though"

It had been something like 35 days since Rory had slept in her own bed, not that she was counting. Which means it had been something like 35 days since she had seen Logan. But not a day had gone by that they didn't talk. They probably talked more now than when they dated. It's probably because of technology. Though Rory thinks it's more than that.

In the month they had together before Rory got the call for her new campaign assignment, Logan had flown to New York four different times. Three full weekends, and then one of his whirlwind round trip red-eye flights giving them just barely 24 hours together. Logan ignored his phone, Rory's laptop sat on the table untouched. Breakfast was eaten in bed, dinner was ordered in. But they always went back to that deli for lunch. Logan read all of Rory's pieces before she submitted them. Rory tried to understand Logan when he talked about the things he was doing with the company out in San Francisco.

Rory was in California when she called Logan, but he didn't know that. He thought she was somewhere in the midwest, because that's where she said she was. She was about 5 minutes from the airport when she got off the phone, saying they were 'being called in'. He wished her luck as always, and then very contently said he was just working from home, that she could call whenever she was done. He had no idea she only had to cover one last event, and then she planned to hop on her flight out of LAX to San Francisco.

Rory was standing outside his front door when she called him.  
"Hey Ace. How'd the trailblazing go?"  
"I'm sure you've had a much better time working from the comfort of your own home."  
He chuckled, "no Ace, I can't deny that."  
"Did I catch you at a bad time? I've got some free time, and wanted to see if you wanted to get some coffee."

Logan let out a little laugh. "Now Ace, we talked about this. I can't go across town to grab coffee for a quick phone date. It takes me longer to get there than our phone calls."  
"Please Logan? I promise I have a whole plethora of time this time!"  
"Rory I think we have two different definitions of plethora." Rory held back a laugh. She didn't know if he was working in the living room or his office, and didn't want to chance him hearing the echo of her laugh.  
"Alright Ace. But if I get all the way there and you have to get off the phone, I'm revoking your coffee date privileges completely."

Rory heard him close his laptop, the sound of him getting up and walking across the room as he talked. Then she heard him grab his keys. "So tell me about how this morning went on my drive over there."  
She backed up as he opened the door. "I'll wait for you to get situated in the car." And that's when Logan's eyes met hers, and he froze.

"Ace!" Within seconds, Rory was wrapped in Logan's arms, her feet off the ground. He squeezed harder when she asked "are you happy to see me?" 

"Happy?" He pulled away, putting his hands on her cheeks to pull her in for a kiss. "Ace you're here in San Francisco. This is more than happiness." He kissed her again, both of them smiling. "You're not supposed to be here. What about the rest of the campaign?"

She smiled. "But I am supposed to be here. My last event was this morning. This was always my last stop."

"You were never supposed to be in the mid-west this week, were you?"

"Logan, we were just there. Why would we be going back?"

"I guess this is my fault for trusting a reporter!" He wrapped his arms around her again and held her tight. "You're really here!"

It took some convincing, but they really did have their coffee date. Logan insisted on going inside, but Rory very quickly won the argument when she reminded him that she had traveled all this way to see him, the least he could do was take her for coffee.  
"But Rory, you know I have coffee in my kitchen."  
"Logan, since when have I been such a cheap date?"

Logan was helping Rory move her bags from just inside the front door where they had left them into his room. "Now, you don't have any drawer space here. Though I expect you're about to change that."  
"Don't be silly. I just need a shoe box under the bed" Rory heard Logan's footsteps stop behind her, and she turned around to look at him. "What?"  
"That just feels like a lifetime ago."  
"It was another lifetime Logan."

She put the bag she was carrying down and walked the two steps to him. "Logan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by that."  
Logan reached out for her hand. "I know you didn't Ace." He gave her hand a squeeze, and then kissed her forehead. "Come on, let's get you settled in. Only proper I make you comfortable for the week that you're here."  
"One drawer will be just fine."  
"Really? Because I had a really nice shoe box in mind."

They were on the couch eating the Chinese they had delivered when Logan's phone started vibrating. "Logan, that's the third time it's gone off. You can check it."  
"Just because we aren't in New York doesn't mean I'm gonna change my no phone rule."  
"So, you're going to stay off your phone all week?"  
Logan stopped the fork half way to his mouth. "Alright, so I hadn't thought this through."  
"My work week didn't stop, so I don't expect yours to."

"I know I've already given you a drawer in the bedroom and threw in some counter space in the bathroom, but I may even make you some room in the office."  
"Logan, you don't have to do that!" She sat up straighter to look at him.  
"Have you seen my office? How much space do you think my laptop and I take up?"  
"I think you underestimate the room I'm going to take up."

Logan laughed. "You know, that's a good point. Maybe I should set you up over there at the table." He used his empty fork to point in its direction. Rory looked over at it and laughed.  
"Logan, why do you have a table? Have you ever used it?"

"It came with the house. And I do use it. That's what catches my things every day after work."  
"You've fallen apart without living with me, haven't you?"  
Logan smiled. "Ace you're lucky this place isn't a disaster! I just happened to get stuck on a long conference call this morning and walked around cleaning to pass the time."

Rory faked a dramatic gasp. "You've changed Logan Huntzberger"  
Logan squeezed her leg that was across his lap. "I blame it on living with you and Paris."  
"That really changes a man."

Rory thought she was dreaming when she woke up the next morning. She smiled thinking about being in Palo Alto with Logan. The sun was peeking through the curtains. She wondered if Logan had picked them out or if they also came with the house. She reached across the bed, only to find it empty.  
She sat up on her elbows to look around the room. His watch was on the dresser with his wallet. ‘So he’s still home.’ She climbed out of bed, grabbing Logan’s t-shirt from yesterday to throw on. She walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth and to at least collect her hair into a ponytail. 

“Logan?”  
“In here Ace!” She followed his voice into his office. She leaned against the door frame.  
“I didn’t wake you, did I?”  
“Nope, woke up all by myself. And let me emphasize on the ‘all by myself’”  
Logan got out of his chair to come give her a kiss. “Work week didn’t stop, remember?”  
“I may just join you in this thing called work. Have you eaten yet?”  
“There’s fresh coffee in the kitchen. And I had some donuts delivered.”  
“You spoil me Huntzberger” She gave him a quick kiss and headed into the kitchen.

“So what’s on your agenda for today?” Rory yelled to Logan a room over while she poured her coffee.  
“I got a head start on this paperwork. But I’ve got a conference call later in the afternoon I can’t avoid. But I was thinking, we should go out for dinner tonight. There’s a great tapas place I think you’ll like.” He walked into the kitchen holding his coffee cup. Rory filled it before taking a sip of her own.  
“Taking me out for dinner? You mean, we have to go out in public?”  
“I’m sorry Gilmore, were you expecting to hide out here? Because I plan on using every available second to take you out.” He smiled and gave her a kiss.  
“We hide in the city. Let me take you out, show you Palo Alto and San Francisco. Maybe even leave the city if we get the time.” Logan gave her a kiss on the cheek, and picked up his cup. He started to walk back towards the office.  
“Logan you don’t have to do that. I don’t want to disrupt your work week.”  
He stopped and turned towards her. “I want to do this Rory. This is what I wanted to do.” She thought about the conversation they had outside her graduation party. 

“You aren’t planning on taking me hiking and biking are you? Because this Rory is still not Palo Alto Rory.” Logan put his cup back on the counter and walked back towards her to kiss her.  
“You’ve discovered my master plan Ace. I already took you for coffee.” She smiled, kissing him again. Then, she had a thought. 

She walked away from Logan, towards the living room.  
“Where are you running off to Ace?”  
But she didn’t answer. She just kept walking until she got to the back windows. She looked out towards the right.  
“Rory, what are you doing?”  
And then she looked at the left side of the backyard. Her breath caught.  
“Logan”, she whispered.  
She didn’t realize Logan had followed her into the living room until he wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder.  
“There it is.” 

Rory was still looking out the window. And hearing Logan say that, while being wrapped in his arms, Rory began to cry.  
“Oh Ace” Logan turned her around and held her. She cried into his shoulder. He whispered “Rory” as he held her a little tighter, rubbing her back with one hand, his other in her hair. After a moment, Logan said “I’ve gotten pretty good at making guacamole.”

She pulled away from his chest and looked at him. “This is the house. That’s the avocado tree.”  
“Yes. Yes it is.” He wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I needed something. I needed you to be with me somehow. So when the realtor called a week after your graduation about the house, I took it.” 

“Wait Logan, you bought the house?”  
“Seemed more logical than renting it. I had no reason not to.” They stood there for a second. Rory wasn’t sure what to say. 

“Rory when I bought the house, I never thought I’d be having this conversation. So what did it matter if I bought the house. And no one else knew this was the house I had chosen for us. It was just ours, mine. It’s all I had left.” 

Rory just kept looking at him. She wasn’t just standing in some random house. She was standing in the house Logan wanted for them. For them as an engaged couple. For them while they built their future together. “Logan, I-”  
“I can book us a hotel for the week. There’s one not far from my office. I think there’s a coffee place right there. We don’t have to stay here. This didn’t even cross my mind. I’m such an idiot.” 

Rory put her hand up to stop him. “Logan, we’re staying here. We’re not staying in a hotel. This is your home. That’s your avocado tree. Now, we both have work to get done. I believe you promised me dinner tonight? And I don’t want us to fall behind in our work. I’d love to spend time traveling with you this week.” 

Logan wiped her cheeks again, kissing her lips lightly. “I’m sorry this overwhelmed you. I should have already mentioned this. I feel like this conversation would have gone a little more smoothly in New York.” 

Rory laughed a little. “Yeah, maybe. But then I may not have come out here.” She looked down at her feet.  
“This is a lot”  
“A little bit”  
“Come on, I’ll pour you a fresh cup of coffee and clear you some space in the office. I could use some company.” 

Rory was sitting on Logan’s bed after dinner taking her heels off. She looked up and saw him standing in the doorway. “This is nice.”  
“Having a girl undressing on your bed?”  
“Having you undressing on my bed.”  
“Don’t get too excited, Huntzberger, I was just taking off my shoes” Logan laughed and walked towards the bed. He sat down next to Rory, unlatching her necklace. 

“I don’t care what you’re doing, you’re here. You were blowing your nose earlier and I was just as happy watching you do that.”  
“Oh Logan, you know just how to flatter a woman.”

“I missed you Ace.”  
“I’ve missed you too Logan.” Logan paused for a minute, just looking at Rory.  
“About the house Rory-”  
“You don’t owe me an explanation Logan. You didn’t need to factor me in.”  
“I want to factor you in now”  
“Logan” 

Logan got off the bed and faced away from Rory. After a moment, he turned around to face her, visibly upset. Rory’s heart broke looking at him. It was the same face he made at her graduation. When she told him no. Maybe they were both reliving that day today.

“Had I known this would be so emotional, I would have just invited you to New York.”  
“For a place we’ve made no memories in, it sure is full of memories, isn’t it?”  
“Logan, has it felt like this the whole time you’ve lived here?”  
“All 5 months of it.”  
“Logan” 

“I had to hold onto something Ace. I had all this ready to go. It was all figured out, prepared, thought through. And I’m doing it all alone.”  
“I’m here. Right now.” Tears filled Rory’s eyes.  
“No more crying Ace.” Logan held her again like he had earlier. 

A part of Rory wanted to take Logan up on his offer to stay in a hotel. But, there was something about being here that just felt right. Thinking about missing out on making memories in this house with Logan all summer made her cry more. Thinking about how he must have felt living here alone made her cry more. Thinking about having to go home and this just being a visit nearly made her collapse. Logan held her tighter, as she felt her body give out on her. 

He led her to the bed and sat her down. He reached over to his nightstand and grabbed the box of tissues for her. She sat up and took one. 

“Just a warning, I’m about to blow my nose.”  
That made them both laugh a little. “I’m glad you’re still working blue.”  
“We’re never going to escape our past together.” Rory said, after blowing her nose and coming back from going to throw away the tissue.  
“I don’t want to.”  
“No, I don’t either.” Rory held out her hand, and Logan took it. He stood up so that he was face to face with Rory. “So day two has been eventful.”  
They both laughed a little. “Yeah” Logan kissed her forehead. 

“How about tomorrow, we spend it out of the house? I have to be in the office early, but then I’m free after 11.”  
Rory smiled. “I like the sound of that. It’ll give me a chance to get a couple extra hours of sleep.”  
“Actually, I was going to ask and see if you wanted to tag along.”  
“Really?” 

“Yeah, if you want to. I see how confused you are when I talk about what I’m doing. Maybe seeing it will help at least a little bit.” He smiled, and so did she. “But I know how tempting that extra sleep must seem.” 

“Not tempting enough. I’ll tag along.”  
“Rory I don’t want you to feel like you have to.”  
“No, I want to.”  
“Well, since we need to leave here by 7, I should probably get you into bed.”  
“Now who’s working blue?”

The next morning felt routine. Logan’s alarm went off, and he gently woke Rory up. They shared the bathroom counter, he collected his things and answered some emails while she showered and finished getting ready. He handed her her laptop, she handed him his keys. He locked the front door, and then opened her car door. She waited for their coffees while he took a call. They walked through the office building with his hand on the small of her back. A routine.

She sat at his desk while he was in a meeting. The more work she got done now, the less she needed to do later. She was just about done with the piece she was working on when there was a knock at Logan’s office door. Since his secretary knew she was in there, she said “come in”. But to her surprise, when she picked her head up to see what his secretary needed, she was looking at someone entirely different.

“Rory?”  
“Finn?”  
“I was expecting Logan. So I’m sure you can understand my surprise finding someone much better looking sitting in his seat.” 

Rory rolled the chair back, and nearly ran to Finn, jumping into his open arms.  
“Darling what are you doing on the wrong coast?”  
“I needed some fresh air.”  
“How fresh is Logan’s air these days?”  
“Finn I’m so happy to see you.”  
“Let me get a good look.” Finn held her by the hand at arm's length, turning her around. “Well Rory, I do have to say. The City suits you very well.”  
“I’ll take the high praise.”  
“I’ve seen you have been busy out of the city though. Is that what brought you here?”  
“Oh uhm, no. Not quite.”  
“So you mean, the campaign trail didn’t bring you to Logan’s office in San Francisco? I’m shocked by this development Miss Gilmore.”

“I’m here visiting. And why are you here Finn?”  
“Well I’m going to assume I’m here getting my heart broken. As I’m sure any of my advances will be shot down as long as you’re here.”  
“Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that your assumption is wrong.”  
“I’m not sure I’m ready to compete with Rory Gilmore again.”  
“Oh Finn, we are not competing.” She walked back over to the desk to sit down, Finn taking a seat in a chair placed facing her. 

“Since Logan hasn’t said anything, and you’re here in California, I am left to my own devices here.”  
“I was in Los Angeles, so I flew here after I was through with work.” 

“Ah yes, you decided to just pop in since we were on this coast.” Rory knew what he was getting at, but she missed this back and forth with Finn, so she let it continue. “Yes, precisely.”  
“And after months of silence, you thought this was a lovely plan of action.”  
“Only the best.”  
“There hasn’t been silence has there Rory?”  
“Do you need to ask that Finn?”  
“Well, tell me. I must know. Logan neglects me these days. I’m left to make dumb decisions all on my own.” 

Rory and Finn were catching up, discussing a good time for him to be in the city when Logan walked in. “Oh wow”  
“Well there is the man of the hour.”  
“How are ya Finn?” Rory smiled, sitting back in her seat watching them hug and catch up.  
“So I guess the cat’s out of the bag then.” Logan said, looking from Finn to Rory.  
“Oh yes, an empty bag.”  
“How long are you in town for Finn?”  
“Well, not long. I was just coming to scoop you up. But it seems you’ve already been grabbed.” Logan looked back at Rory and smiled. 

The three friends sat and talked for another hour. And then Rory and Logan had to almost forcibly remove Finn when he refused to fly to Vegas without them. “Now that I know there is a package deal involved, I will plan with regards.” 

“Oh thank you Finn. It is always a pleasure being considered.”  
“Rory darling, you are always greatly considered.” Rory gave him one last kiss on the cheek, and Logan shooed him out the door, closing it behind him.

“So you got to see Finn. Maybe this trip has been saved after all.”  
“Oh Logan, there has been nothing wrong with this trip.” Rory walked over to the desk and sat back down, collecting her things.  
“And that’s what you told Finn?”  
“That would mean I lied to Finn.”  
“Oh, so you’re lying to me?”  
“You know how horrible it hurts to lie to Finn.” Logan gave her a playful glare.

“Okay so I just have to do one more thing, and then we can hit the road. Did you get everything done you wanted to work on?” They kissed as she got up from the desk and walked past him so he could sit down. 

“Well, I finished my piece. But I didn’t get that next one done like I had hoped.”  
“Ace, did you write that entire article already?” “  
Twice. Sent it yesterday, and then pulled it during editing to change some things. But it’s fully submitted. I emailed you a copy so you can read it before print.”  
“That was maybe one of the most nonchalant things you have ever said to me.”  
Rory smiled at him.

They spent the afternoon driving through San Francisco while Logan showed her all the places he’s visited so far. For lunch, he took her to the Italian restaurant they usually take clients to. ‘You need to have the full San Francisco Huntzberger Experience.’ He drove by a bookstore he had found, but refused to take her knowing they would be there for the rest of the afternoon. After having dinner and enjoying the view of the Golden Gate Bridge during sunset, they drove back towards Palo Alto. They stopped for ice cream, burgers, and fries to bring home. 

“You don’t eat like this during our weekends in New York.”  
Rory reached across him to get some more fries. “That’s because I don’t have greasy food this good close to my apartment.”  
“I can’t believe I forgot how much you can eat. Or maybe it’s been so long that I didn’t realize how used to it I was.”  
“That’s on you Huntzberger. Because I have definitely never hidden my eating talents from you.”  
“No, you have not.”

The next morning, they were in no rush to get out of bed. The blankets and them were twisted up like pretzels, and it didn’t matter. Logan’s phone was buzzing on the nightstand, and it didn’t matter. Rory’s phone was buzzing on the dresser, and it didn’t matter. The world was spinning around them and people were eating lunch, and it didn’t matter. 

“I wanna see the house.”  
“What?”  
Rory lifted herself up off Logan’s chest to look at him. “I want to see the house.”  
“You mean the house you’ve been in for 4 days.”  
“The very same.”  
“Ace are you sleep deprived?”  
“That’s not relevant. You picked out this house for us, because you thought I would like it. I want to actually see it. I want to see it like it’s the first time. See how you decided that this was the one for us.” 

Logan just watched her as she talked. “So do you want me to walk you around and show you crownmoldings and how one of the tiles in the hallway bathroom isn’t exactly level?”  
“That’s exactly what I want.”  
“Are we going to do this wrapped in blankets, or shall we shower first?”  
“Shower and eat first.” Rory leaned down to kiss him. “And coffee.”

And that afternoon, after eating lunch at the table, (“I want to at least do it once Logan”) Logan walked through each room with Rory starting from the front door, through to the backyard. He showed her what furniture came with the house, and what Honor helped him pick out to match. He pointed out the messed up tile in the guest bathroom, and how much he loves how the electrical outlets are situated in the office. They talked about how he wanted to replace the counters in the kitchen, “I don’t know who thought white marble would look good on this shade of wood”. Rory mostly followed him in silence, taking it all in. Really looking at the house, the house Logan had picked out for them.

“Well Ace, do you approve of my ability to pick houses?”  
They were sitting out back drinking coffee during the sunset. “I think you got lucky with this one. I don’t think you could do it again.”  
“I’d bet you on that, but I think I’ve finally gotten to the point in my life where I know betting on houses just isn’t a smart move.”  
“Plus it would be a shame if you lost this one. Then I wouldn’t have a home to come visit.” She smiled, taking a sip of her coffee. 

Logan smiled back at her. “Do you want to continue the talk that was started the other day? I feel like we’ve been dancing around it since.”  
“Which talk was that?”  
“The one about how you said no to my proposal, we broke up, never talked about it, I bought the house I had picked out for us, and after months of silence, we spent a weekend together, and then kept spending weekends together, and now you’re spending a week here.”  
Rory looked down at her cup. “Oh, that one.”

“You’re leaving in 4 days. And I don’t know about you, but I feel like this week is going to define the rest of our time together here on out.”  
“I feel like it already is.” 

Logan leaned towards Rory in his chair, placing a hand on her knee. “Talk to me Ace. What are you thinking about?”  
Rory was thinking about a lot. Their three years together, turning down his proposal, their summer apart, their weekends together, their bonding while apart, this house. “I’m scared Logan.”  
“Rory” 

“I’m scared that one day, it’ll just be over. Like this didn’t happen. It was just some crazy fever dream. What has changed since my graduation? I’m still on the east coast, you’re out here. I travel for work, and who knows what I’ll be doing next month. You are working nonstop to help build this company. The predicament hasn’t changed. My answer to that proposal would still be the same. Damn it, it would still be the same. Was I an idiot then, or am I an idiot now?” 

“You’re not an idiot.” 

“And this house Logan. You bought this house. This house. Our house. Not that I blame you. At least you have roots, even if they are attached to the past. I have nothing. What’s rooting me to New York City? Just my stubbornness. The same emotions that kept me in Connecticut 5 months ago. But I left. I told you I wouldn’t leave, and then I left. What sense does that make? And what are we doing? You come and visit. And now I’m the one visiting. We had a rendezvous, missed each other, and then kept doing it. And I want to point out that our communication skills are superb. I like to think it’s thanks to the advances in technology, but I know it’s more than that. But have we actually talked? I hadn’t realized what we weren’t saying until I was talking to Finn. To Finn! Let’s be realistic, how long can these rendezvouses last? How many more weekends do we have left? Should we set a limit to plan for the inevitable? Logan what are we doing?” 

Rory finally looked at Logan, tears slowly dropping down her cheeks. Somewhere in her word vomit, Logan had sat back up and put his cup on the table next to their chairs. His hands were loosely folded in his lap, staring in the direction of the avocado tree. He turned his head to look at her, she could see the tears pooling in his eyes. 

“I love you Rory. And I am so desperate to have you in my life, I don’t care how many rendezvouses we have, I just need you in my life. And I’ll come back every time you ask, anytime you ask. I’ll hop on that plane and be at your door. But Rory, I want this. I want us. This house. All of it.”

They sat there in silence, just looking at each other for a moment. Both of them with tears quietly falling down their cheeks. Rory realized now that she had never seen Logan cry. He always collected himself so that tears would never fall. 

“I’m so unsure about so many things. And so much of our lives are unsure and undecided.”  
“This, this is for sure. Us. This love. This is for sure Rory. We know that. Shouldn’t that matter for something?”

Rory put her cup on the table and stood up. She thought about just running and hiding in the house. Avoiding this whole conversation. But it’s been put off long enough. So instead, she walked over to Logan and climbed into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. He kissed wherever he could reach. She felt a pain in her heart that was worse than watching him walk away from her at her graduation. 

“Logan I can’t go home without knowing what we’re doing, where we’re going.”  
“Would it be selfish of me to say this was your home and you don’t need to go anywhere?”  
“I feel like that would just be one big circle. We started there.”  
“But we can start here. Right here, in this moment.”  
“My life is in New York City. Your life is here Logan. And we can have the long distance conversation again, but we’ve already had that. No going backwards. And I have a feeling you still feel that way.” 

Her eyes searched his. She wanted answers, needed answers. Though she wasn’t sure she’d find them here. 

“I’m selfish Rory. I want you to be here. Start our life together here. My mind hasn’t changed since May. We’re just using our weekends together as an excuse to hide what’s really going on. How much longer can we do that?” 

“Logan, I can’t just uproot my life to go against what I’ve already decided, how I already feel. And what happens in a month, 2 months, 6 months if things change? I have to uproot myself again to move back across the country? Why can’t we just figure this out from our own addresses. We’ve come this far doing long distance. What’s the difference if we put a label on it?”

Rory’s arms were resting around Logan’s shoulders. She started slowly tracing her fingers across his neck. Logan’s arms around her body tense up. His grip tightened around her waist and thigh where his hands were. 

“Rory, I can’t lose you again. I am lost without you Ace. But I don’t want to push you away. Maybe we don’t need labels. We haven’t needed them in the last two months. And now I’ve ruined our week together because of my selfish need for them.”

Rory brought one of her hands to cradle his face. He leaned into it and then turned to kiss her thumb. “I love you Logan.” 

Logan’s hands moved up her body to pull her face down to his. His lips crashed into hers, hard. She pulled away, resting her forehead on his. “Ace you don’t know how badly I’ve wanted to hear you say that.” He kissed her again.  
“I love you.”  
“I love you too Rory.”

Logan kissed her again. His hands on her cheeks, holding her, deepening the kiss. Rory turned her body, so that she was facing Logan as much as she could in the chair. He brought his hands down her sides, squeezing her thighs before wrapping his hands under her and lifting her so that she was straddling him, her legs folded up into the chair. Their mouths never coming apart. She pulled him closer. 

“Why don’t we go inside?” Rory pulled away from Logan so that she could look at him. She wondered if her face looked just as lustful as his. She kissed him again, and then slowly climbed out of his lap. She held out her hand, Logan taking it. He followed her through the back door, only pausing enough to close it behind him. He followed her through the living room, down the hall, and into his bedroom. She paused just inside the door, turning to look at him. Still holding her hand, he closed the gap behind them, bringing his lips to hers again.

Rory started to lift up the bottom of his shirt. He pulled away from her to take it off, she turned around and held up her hair so that he could unzip her dress. They reconnected their lips as their clothes were tossed to the floor. Logan started to walk Rory backwards towards the bed. He placed his hand behind her back, guiding her down onto the bed, his other hand landing on the bed next to her head. She pulled him down so that their bodies were touching. Logan kissed from her lips, across her cheek. It wasn’t until then that she realized she was starting to cry again. He kissed her lips again, and then kissed her other cheek. 

“I need us. I need you” Rory said breathlessly.  
Logan stopped kissing her, locking eyes with her.  
“I need you,” she said again. 

Logan followed her as Rory pulled herself all the way onto the bed, never losing eye contact. Logan reached around her, throwing the decorative pillows onto the floor. She smiled as he cursed at them under his breath. Rory laid her head down on one of the pillows left behind, intertwining their fingers. Logan lifted their hands above her head, putting his weight on his elbows. He left kisses on her cheeks, ears, neck, across her chest. Logan was slowly making his way down her stomach, watching her. He got to one of her hips when Rory moaned “please”.

Day five went on as if day four never happened. Sure, Rory remembered all the stupid details of the house. The house that Logan had picked out for them. And Rory remembered eating dinner in bed wrapped up in blankets. But day five seemed to have forgotten everything else that had happened. Day four did not exist.

The morning was spent in the office. Things were mostly silent, except for the clicking of keyboards and buzzing of phones. Small kisses were placed on cheeks in exchange for coffee refills and carb reloads. Day four was a faint memory until around two in the afternoon. 

Rory was in the bedroom, she had decided to sneak away and shower while Logan took a work call. Out of habit, she pulled open the top right drawer of the dresser for underwear and socks, as if she was home. Except at Logan’s, the top right drawer was his underwear and sock drawer. There, in the front corner of the drawer, as if waiting for her, was a blue velvet box. She didn’t have to touch it to know what it felt like in her hands.

She stood there, her fingers still wrapped around the handle of the drawer, staring at the engagement ring box she had given back to Logan. Faintly, she could hear Logan still talking on the phone in the office. But it sounded like he was miles away, not just down the hall. The emotions flooded over her, overwhelming her completely. Yale, graduation, New York, the house, the avocado tree, yesterday. Yesterday. Rory couldn’t hide in Logan’s arms in bed, couldn’t bury herself in her work. She was being pulled into these emotions head on. 

“What’s the matter Ace, didn’t pack enough socks?” Logan’s voice made Rory jump. She looked over at him, doing her best to hold back the tears threatening to pour out. “You’re not looking for socks are you?” 

“I opened the wrong drawer out of habit.”  
“We should have thought to match up our drawers.” Logan smiled, but it seemed forced.  
“I uh-”  
“I didn’t let go of that either.” 

They were standing there with their eyes locked in silence. Rory unmoving from the dresser, Logan glued to the door frame. Rory’s heart beat faster the longer she watched him. Was he suffering like her? Was he questioning everything like her? Rory didn’t even know what to say to break the silence. Logan smiled at her again, this time was more comforting. 

Rory looked away from him, slowly closed the drawer and took a step back. Logan took the few steps across the room to stand next to her. They stood together, arms barely touching, looking at the dresser. Logan reached his left pinky out and touched Rory’s right hand. She turned her hand and intertwined their fingers. 

“Things can’t go back to the way they were in New York, can they?”  
“No Ace, I don’t think so.” Logan squeezed her hand as she looked at him.  
“We can’t erase yesterday either?” Logan squeezed her hand again, his smile reaching his eyes a little more this time. “No Ace.”  
Rory smiled back at him. “You felt the void too?”  
“Since I woke up.” Logan let out a small laugh.

“We can’t ignore this anymore Logan.”  
“I know Ace.” Logan pulled Rory into his arms, whispering “I know” into her ear. Rory stopped holding back the tears. She needed to relieve so much of the pressure, of the tension. She wanted to go back to Yale. When being in love with Logan was easy, effortless, carefree. She took so much time for granted.

“We took so much for granted.”  
“Don’t I know it Ace.”  
“It used to be so easy. It all just worked.”  
“Rory, can we ever get back there?”  
“Depends on who wants to move.” 

Rory pulled away from Logan and looked at him. “That’s what this comes down to. Who wants to move.” Logan took her hand and led her to the bed. They sat down together, hands still intertwined. 

“I’m not walking away Rory. Whatever is decided, I’m not walking away. You’re worth every plane ride, every red eye. I need you to know that.” Rory gave him a gentle smile. She knew he was serious, and she believed him. 

“I don’t want you going anywhere Logan. But I also don’t want us to suffer just so we can be together.” Logan didn’t say anything, he was still looking at their hands. His thumb going back and forth across Rory’s hand. 

“If you asked me again, I’d say yes.” Logan’s eyes shot up, wide as they searched Rory’s face. She was surprised she said that out loud, without even a second thought. “Don’t go dropping down on one knee now, this is a real step down from your last grand gesture.” They both laughed. Logan pulled Rory into him and squeezed. She felt his heart beating out of his chest, along with hers.

“I need you to know that Logan.” Rory’s words were muffled against Logan, and she pulled away to make sure he heard her every word. “I’m all in with you. I’ve been all in since you canceled your flight and came back to my apartment. Doesn’t matter what our label is, it’s always been you.” 

Before Rory could say anything else, Logan took his hand from behind her back and pulled her head closer to his and kissed her hard. He kissed her lips softly a couple times, and then her nose, forehead and each cheek. 

“When is your lease up?”  
“Logan”  
“No, no. Hear me out first.”  
“Before Christmas.”  
“So when your lease is up, we’ll travel for Christmas and New Years. And then, we go apartment shopping.” 

Rory opened her mouth to say ‘Logan’ again, but his hand covered her mouth before she made a sound. 

“We’ll find something spacious enough for us to both have a space to work at home. Do you like the area you’re in? I’m open to most burrows. So I can let you decide that. And when I need to be in the office, which is definitely not always a necessity, I can fly back. You can even fly back with me. There’s obviously plenty of space here for you. This house isn’t going anywhere. This can be our own little hiding place, our sanctuary. Just us, just ours.”

When he stopped talking, Logan slowly lowered his hand from Rory’s face. She was still smiling. “Was this just off the cuff, or have you been thinking about this?” 

Logan smiled. “It’s been on my mind instead of work.”  
“And between now and then?”  
“So there’s a then?”

“Logan, I told you, I’m all in this with you.” Logan kissed her again, and repeated the kisses on her face again. He rested his forehead on hers. 

“Alright Ace. What do you say we shake on it, finish our work day, and then let me take you out to eat. Discuss the fine details over some fried food.”  
“I thought you’d never ask!”

Rory was zipping up her suitcase when Logan appeared in the doorway. 

“I’m going to miss you doing that.”  
“You mean when I magically appear and then lean on the doorframe like I’m holding it up?”  
“I need to make sure I have proper door frames in the next apartment.”  
“I hear townhomes have great door frames to lean against.” 

Rory picked up her suitcase, and stood it up on the floor. She looked over at Logan, soaking in the view. “I’ve heard something about that, too.”

“Still haven’t convinced you on the townhouse idea huh?”  
“The stairs haven’t won me over yet.” Logan walked over, taking the suitcase handle from Rory, lingering on her hand for a minute. She knew what time it was. She knew they needed to head to the airport in the next thirty minutes. But she wanted to stand here forever. 

“Where’d you go Ace?” Rory looked up at Logan.  
“Trust me, I haven’t left.”  
“How about we head out a little early and stop for coffee? I may even grab you a donut or two.”  
“Oh Logan, you spoil me!”

Rory had planned on using the plane ride home to catch up on the writing she neglected the last couple of days while her and Logan focused on figuring the details out. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get her mind to leave California, even with the corn fields passing below. They sat at dinner for hours the other night. Finally leaving after the second round of desserts. She smiled at the thought of sharing chocolate cake while they made a pros and cons list for another rental apartment or investing in a townhouse. 

Every time Rory wanted to make a pros and cons list, Logan entertained the idea. He never teased, only helped. She offered to email him copies when they were saying goodbye at the airport, that’s when he teased her. Logan understands her want to stay in New York, and Rory loves him for respecting that. 

Somewhere over Kentucky though, Rory realized she didn’t actually want to live in New York. Why was she in New York? She was living there, she wasn’t working there. She tried to remember the last time she was in New York longer than grabbing clean clothes. And what happens after the election? Months ago she was considering going freelance, the election just paused that train of thought. She was walking through the airport when she decided she wouldn’t be getting a new apartment or ridiculous stair filled townhouse. 

Logan didn’t answer her call. She was kind of expecting it, she had already texted him letting him know she had landed and was heading towards her apartment. She got a quick ‘the house is empty without you’ but she hadn’t heard much from him since he went into a meeting. She had already paced her apartment four times trying to talk herself into calling her mom. Convincing herself that moving to the west coast was a good idea has always been an uphill battle. But convincing Lorelai, that’s a completely different warzone. But Rory knew she had to make that call. She plopped down on the couch, and hit her mom’s number.

In the weeks that followed Rory’s trip to California, her and Logan fell back into their travel routine. If Rory was in New York, he flew in on Thursday nights. If she was working in DC, they would meet at her apartment late Friday nights. She gave him a key during the second DC weekend. She felt horrible that he was flying in so late just to make sure she was home to let him in. 

One morning, after waking up to the smell of fresh coffee and donuts, Rory learned that Logan had swapped the drawer she had given him and her underwear drawer. She smiled thinking about what was sitting in his drawer at home. Although her phone call with her mom about California lasted three days, more than five hang ups, and so many arguments over misused pop culture references, she knew her mom was behind her. “That’s your decision to make, kid.” Rory knew what she meant. And it made her smile when she thought about it.

Two days before her lease was up, she woke up to a text from Logan. “I managed to get an extra day, so I’m going to fly to you a day early!” Rory’s smile reached her ears instantly. But it faded as she sat up and looked around the chaos in her apartment. She had spent every available second she had packing up her apartment since Logan left last Sunday. If he was coming a day earlier, that meant he would be here tomorrow and she would need to have everything packed by then, or her surprise would be ruined!

She jumped out of bed to take a quick shower. If she spent an hour writing while she drank her coffee, she could get an assignment done and still have plenty of time to get the kitchen and the last of the bookcases packed before she met her mom for a late lunch. And if she could keep it together and avoid a second round of waterworks, she could get back to her apartment in time to pack the last of her clothes before she went to bed. 

Half way through her hour of writing, Rory got an email from Logan.  
“Hey Ace just wanted to let you know I’m catching an earlier flight, so I’m just going to take a cab to your apartment. Your lunch with your mom is today right? Have we gotten to the point where I say ‘say hi to her for me’? Or is she still Team Rory?” Rory had to stop reading for a second to laugh. If only he knew! “I set up a couple townhouse walk throughs before we leave the city. So at least we’ll have an idea and some time to think about it while we’re away. I’ve never been so happy to move boxes into a storage unit before!”

Too bad he wouldn’t get to move anything into a storage unit. Her mom would be helping her with that, since her things will be going back to Stars Hollow. Just a holding place until her and Logan figure out what goes to California. 

She didn’t avoid a second wave of waterworks, and it took longer than expected to get her things into her mom’s car. Next week, her mom was taking another trip up for the last of it. Pretty much whatever clothes and books are left after Rory packs for vacation. By the time her mom drove off and she got back into her apartment, Rory was ready for a nap. But she needed to actually pack for California. Well, pack for leaving New York. 

Her and Logan had decided to spend some time traveling the west coast before needing to be back on the east coast for Christmas. Of course, he had no idea she was packing for California, and then would be repacking for Christmas. 

“Well good morning” Rory was standing in the kitchen when Logan came in the door.  
“I was expecting you to be in bed, hence the cab.” He put his bag down and wrapped her in his arms. She couldn’t stop smiling. And when he pulled away, he noticed. “I don’t think you’ve ever been so happy to see me Ace.” 

“Sure I have! There was that time you surprised me on the roof. And when I surprised you in California.” She picked her coffee cup back up and took a sip. “Oh! And then that first morning when we woke up in Stars Hollow.” 

When she looked at him, he was just staring at her, an eyebrow raised. “Remember? The first time I took you home? And I woke you up with the pro cons list and we did that maze?” 

“Trust me, I remember. I’m just curious how it made it on to that list.”

Rory smiled thinking about that trip. She was so confused, and uneasy about her future. And Logan wasn’t much better off. But Logan was there, right by her side. And he was in Stars Hollow, and happy about it. It’s amazing how things seemed so definite for them then. She took another sip of her coffee. 

“Everything was up in the air, but it didn’t matter because I had you and we were in my safe space. And you seemed happy about it all.” 

Logan took her cup out of her hand and set it on the counter. “Rory there was nowhere else I wanted to be, but right there with you.”

Instead of ordering in, they actually went out for lunch. She had basically been holed up in her apartment since she started packing. She was either packing or working. The only special trip she took was to her favorite book store, like she didn’t already have enough boxes of books. 

When they got back, she sat down on the bed to check her emails real quick. “Hey Ace” Rory looked up, and saw Logan next to two stacks of boxes. “Are you really shipping a box of clothes to my place? Why don’t we buy you another suitcase?”

Before she even had time to think of an answer, he turned his attention to the box next to it. “Why does this one say Stars Hollow? You don’t really have this much of your Mom’s clothing do you?” 

When he looked up towards her, she knew he saw the panic in her face. Those boxes must have been shuffled around when they were loading things into her Mom’s car. She had made sure the top boxes weren’t labeled in case Logan noticed. 

“Ace? Everything okay over there?” He turned to fully face her, and she almost had the urge to run. Like that would even be the right reaction! 

“My mom must have moved those around.” Rory put the laptop back on the bed and braced herself as she stood up. 

“Still doesn’t explain why you would ship clothes instead of buying another suitcase.” She smiled, and then felt her eyes start to tear up. She quickly blinked them away before Logan got too close and noticed. 

“Actually, I do have an answer for that.” Rory turned around, and wheeled two large suitcases out of the corner of the room. “See these, are the kinds of clothes I’m going to need for traveling.” 

She walked towards Logan, and put a hand on the box marked Stars Hollow. “And although I do have enough of my Mom’s close to fill this box, these are boxes of things she is coming to pick up to store at her house for me. And these boxes,” she placed her hand on the one marked California, “are the things I’m shipping home for when we get back.”

Rory watched Logan’s face as she talked. His expression didn’t change too much as she described the boxes. It wasn’t until she said ‘home’ that Logan’s body jolted. She smiled as he fumbled for words. “I’m not coming back here Logan. My mom took most of my things home with her, until we figure out when to get it all to California. And then this will be shipped out before we fly home.” Logan watched her talk, still fumbling for words through his giant smile. 

“Home?”  
“Yes Logan, home.” 

Without saying anything else, Logan wrapped his arms around Rory and picked her up. She laughed as she wrapped her legs and arms around him while he spun them around. He kissed her neck and her cheek. Rory’s hands went to the back of Logan’s head, her lips making their way to his lips. She rested her forehead on his. 

“You’re sure Rory? This is what you want?”

Rory leaned away from him so she could look into his eyes.  
“I’m ready to go home.”


End file.
